Special Projects

Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project

Estimates of the number of foreclosures for 2008 and 2009 nationwide have been revised upward to approximately 2.2 million foreclosures. Of that number, it is predicted that Marylanders will experience approximately 52,480 foreclosures in 2008 – 2009.

When the legal community was charged by the judiciary with responding to this crisis, MVLS was asked to do what we do best – find lawyers for low income Marylanders whose homes are in foreclosure.

Our intake lines have been swamped with calls for assistance in foreclosure matters. Your help is needed! We must recruit more attorneys to assist Marylanders faced with losing their homes. If interested in volunteering, please register with the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland (PBRC) to attend a free training session.

Bankruptcy

MVLS currently offers two forms of legal help to income eligible clients requesting assistance in filing Chapter 7 consumer bankruptcy. Attorneys can assist clients by providing individual legal representation for the duration of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. MVLS assists by ensuring that each client’s file is complete with all necessary documents prior to referring a case.

MVLS also offers a self-help bankruptcy class every other month to assist those who plan to file a Chapter 7 consumer bankruptcy on their own. During this three hour class, an experienced bankruptcy attorney and a paralegal explain the differences among the various bankruptcy chapter filings and discuss the pros and cons of each.

As our economy worsens, the number of bankruptcy requests is likely to increase significantly. Attorneys are needed to handle individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. If bankruptcy requests increase, additional bankruptcy classes may be added to the schedule and additional trainers will be needed. Please contact MVLS at (443) 451-4062 or info@mvlslaw.org for additional information.

Judicare/Contested Custody Representation Project

MVLS was asked to administer the Judicare program in Baltimore City and Washington County in response to the large number of unrepresented litigants in the family courts. To attract more pro bono attorneys, Judicare has funding to pay attorneys up to $2,400 per client representation. Attorneys are paid at the rate of $80 per hour for the first 20 hours of representation in a contested domestic matter. The attorney must then provide the next five hours pro bono. For matters that require additional time for resolution, attorneys are eligible for an additional ten hours of paid representation at $80 per hour. Judicare attorneys are asked to accept one pro bono domestic case for every Judicare case referred. The pro bono domestic matters are generally uncontested or less complicated than Judicare cases. Attorneys must have at least three years of family law experience to participate in this project.

The Contested Custody Representation Project, that began prior to Judicare, now has the same attorney payment and guidelines as Judicare. It is expected that these two projects will be merged in the next fiscal year. Any attorney interested in participating in one of these programs should complete and return the program specific application, Judicare/Contested Custody Volunteer Application.

Reduced Fee Family Law Cases

This project, available in several counties (Anne Arundel, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Wicomico and Worchester), provides a representation opportunity for individuals who are financially eligible for MVLS services but have a legal issue outside of the scope of domestic issues that our pro bono or Judicare/Contested Custody attorneys can accept. Clients pay an initial non-refundable fee of $25 to MVLS upon application and a retainer of $350 - $525 to the attorney at the first interview with the actual amount dependent upon the legal issue. The attorney performs legal services up to a specified number of hours for that retainer amount. For any additional legal services required to resolve the legal issue, the client pays the attorney an hourly rate of $75. Court and filing fees are the responsibility of the client. Any attorney interested in participating in this program should contact MVLS at (443) 451-4062 or info@mvlslaw.org for additional information.